Chip stocks lift Wall St as investors await trade talks
US stock indexes have edged higher, helped by gains in Nvidia and other chipmakers, as investors awaited possible negotiations between the United States and its trading partners for more clarity on tariff plans.
US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are set to speak this week, the White House said on Monday, days after Trump accused China of violating an agreement to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions.
Trump's administration wants countries to provide their best offer on trade negotiations by Wednesday as officials seek to accelerate talks with multiple partners ahead of a self-imposed deadline in just five weeks, according to a draft letter to negotiating partners seen by Reuters.
Trump said last week he planned to double tariffs on imported steel and aluminium to 50 per cent starting on Wednesday, fuelling fresh concerns among investors and hampering global stocks as they approached record highs.
A softening of Trump's harsh trade stance allowed a recovery in risky assets in May, with the benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting their biggest monthly percentage gain since November 2023.
The S&P 500 remains less than 4.0 per cent away from its record peak touched in February.
"The markets are still trading with a decent level of uncertainty because they're not sure how everything's going to turn out," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management.
"Having a best and final offer deadline and a framework to move forward should be positive for the markets."
In early trading on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 10.40 points, or 0.02 per cent, to 42,315.12, the S&P 500 gained 10.39 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 5,946.18 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 87.28 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 19,330.74.
Six of the 11 major S&P 500 sub-sectors fell.
Communication services declined the most with a nearly 0.7 per cent fall.
On the flip side, information technology stocks led gains with a 0.8 per cent rise, helped by a 2.7 per cent rise in Nvidia.
Chipmaker Broadcom rose 2.1 per cent ahead of its results later this week.
Constellation Energy rose 2.9 per cent after Meta Platforms said it had struck a power agreement with the utility's nuclear plant.
It lifted other nuclear stocks such as Vistra Corp, up 4.4 per cent, GE Vernova, up 1.8 per cent, and NuScale Power, up 2.1 per cent.
A US Labor Department report showed job openings increased in April but lay-offs picked up, signalling a slowing labour market as tariffs impact the economic outlook.
Central bank officials including Fed Board governor Lisa Cook, Chicago Fed president Austan Goolsbee and Dallas president Lorie Logan are due to speak through the day.
Monthly jobs data on Friday will offer more signs on how trade uncertainty is affecting the world's biggest economy.
Pinterest rose 4.7 per cent after JPMorgan raised its rating to "overweight" from "neutral".
Dollar General jumped 12.9 per cent as the discount retailer raised its annual sales forecast after surpassing quarterly sales expectations.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.61-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.67-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 24 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 66 new highs and 41 new lows.
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an hour ago
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NATO will commit to Trump's spending target: Hegseth
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says he's confident members of the NATO alliance will sign up to Donald Trump's demand for a major boost in defence spending, adding that it had to happen by a summit later in June. The US president has said NATO allies should boost investment in defence to five per cent of gross domestic product, up from the current target of two per cent. "To be an alliance, you got to be more than flags. You got to be formations. You got to be more than conferences," Hegseth said as he arrived at a gathering of NATO defence ministers in Brussels. Diplomats have said European allies understand that hiking defence expenditure is the price of ensuring a continued US commitment to the continent's security and keeping the US on board means allowing Trump to be able to declare a win on his five per cent demand during the summit, scheduled for June 24-25. "That will be a considerable extra investment," NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told reporters, predicting that in the Hague summit "we will decide on a much higher spending target for all the nations in NATO." In a bid to meet Trump's goal, Rutte has proposed alliance members boost defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP and commit a further 1.5 per cent to broader security-related spending, Reuters has reported. Details of the new investment plan will likely continue to be negotiated until the eve of the NATO summit. In the meantime, Rutte said he expects allies to agree on Thursday on what he called "historic" new capability targets. The targets, which define how many troops and weapons and how much ammunition a country needs to provide to NATO, would aim to better balance defence contributions between Europe, Canada, and the United States and "make NATO a stronger, fairer and a more lethal alliance", he said in opening remarks to the meeting. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says he's confident members of the NATO alliance will sign up to Donald Trump's demand for a major boost in defence spending, adding that it had to happen by a summit later in June. The US president has said NATO allies should boost investment in defence to five per cent of gross domestic product, up from the current target of two per cent. "To be an alliance, you got to be more than flags. You got to be formations. You got to be more than conferences," Hegseth said as he arrived at a gathering of NATO defence ministers in Brussels. Diplomats have said European allies understand that hiking defence expenditure is the price of ensuring a continued US commitment to the continent's security and keeping the US on board means allowing Trump to be able to declare a win on his five per cent demand during the summit, scheduled for June 24-25. "That will be a considerable extra investment," NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told reporters, predicting that in the Hague summit "we will decide on a much higher spending target for all the nations in NATO." In a bid to meet Trump's goal, Rutte has proposed alliance members boost defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP and commit a further 1.5 per cent to broader security-related spending, Reuters has reported. Details of the new investment plan will likely continue to be negotiated until the eve of the NATO summit. In the meantime, Rutte said he expects allies to agree on Thursday on what he called "historic" new capability targets. The targets, which define how many troops and weapons and how much ammunition a country needs to provide to NATO, would aim to better balance defence contributions between Europe, Canada, and the United States and "make NATO a stronger, fairer and a more lethal alliance", he said in opening remarks to the meeting. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says he's confident members of the NATO alliance will sign up to Donald Trump's demand for a major boost in defence spending, adding that it had to happen by a summit later in June. The US president has said NATO allies should boost investment in defence to five per cent of gross domestic product, up from the current target of two per cent. "To be an alliance, you got to be more than flags. You got to be formations. You got to be more than conferences," Hegseth said as he arrived at a gathering of NATO defence ministers in Brussels. Diplomats have said European allies understand that hiking defence expenditure is the price of ensuring a continued US commitment to the continent's security and keeping the US on board means allowing Trump to be able to declare a win on his five per cent demand during the summit, scheduled for June 24-25. "That will be a considerable extra investment," NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told reporters, predicting that in the Hague summit "we will decide on a much higher spending target for all the nations in NATO." In a bid to meet Trump's goal, Rutte has proposed alliance members boost defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP and commit a further 1.5 per cent to broader security-related spending, Reuters has reported. Details of the new investment plan will likely continue to be negotiated until the eve of the NATO summit. In the meantime, Rutte said he expects allies to agree on Thursday on what he called "historic" new capability targets. The targets, which define how many troops and weapons and how much ammunition a country needs to provide to NATO, would aim to better balance defence contributions between Europe, Canada, and the United States and "make NATO a stronger, fairer and a more lethal alliance", he said in opening remarks to the meeting. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says he's confident members of the NATO alliance will sign up to Donald Trump's demand for a major boost in defence spending, adding that it had to happen by a summit later in June. The US president has said NATO allies should boost investment in defence to five per cent of gross domestic product, up from the current target of two per cent. "To be an alliance, you got to be more than flags. You got to be formations. You got to be more than conferences," Hegseth said as he arrived at a gathering of NATO defence ministers in Brussels. Diplomats have said European allies understand that hiking defence expenditure is the price of ensuring a continued US commitment to the continent's security and keeping the US on board means allowing Trump to be able to declare a win on his five per cent demand during the summit, scheduled for June 24-25. "That will be a considerable extra investment," NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told reporters, predicting that in the Hague summit "we will decide on a much higher spending target for all the nations in NATO." In a bid to meet Trump's goal, Rutte has proposed alliance members boost defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP and commit a further 1.5 per cent to broader security-related spending, Reuters has reported. Details of the new investment plan will likely continue to be negotiated until the eve of the NATO summit. In the meantime, Rutte said he expects allies to agree on Thursday on what he called "historic" new capability targets. The targets, which define how many troops and weapons and how much ammunition a country needs to provide to NATO, would aim to better balance defence contributions between Europe, Canada, and the United States and "make NATO a stronger, fairer and a more lethal alliance", he said in opening remarks to the meeting.
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Push to get 'damn fine' Australian products into Europe
Australia stands firm in free trade negotiations with the European Union in the new environment of Donald Trump's tariffs. Trade Minister Don Farrell walked away from the bloc's previous offer following rounds of negotiations because it failed to give Australian agricultural products greater market access, which remains the sticking point. Senator Farrell met face-to-face with the EU's trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic for the first time on Wednesday, on the sidelines of an OECD meeting in Paris. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was bipartisan support for free and fair trade. "We will seek a deal that is good enough for Australia," he told reporters on Thursday. "If it benefits us, we'll be in it. If it doesn't, we'll continue to not sign up to something that is not in our national interest." Mr Albanese said Australia's free trade agreement with the UK had led to an increase in meat exports, in addition to wine. "Why is that the case? Because our products are damn fine and they are in demand right around the world," he said. Talks for a deal with the EU began in 2018, and that involves consulting all 27 member states before an agreement can be sealed. There are more than 450 million consumers in Europe. Countries across the world seek to diversity trade in the face of the US president's tariffs, with levies on steel and aluminium since doubling to 50 per cent. Australian products are subject to a 10 per cent baseline tariff. The trade minister said an agreement with the bloc would build resilience in a rapidly changing global environment. "Both Australia and the EU recognise that now is the time to strengthen our economic partnership, and we're working through the remaining issues to try and finalise the deal," he said. Australia stands firm in free trade negotiations with the European Union in the new environment of Donald Trump's tariffs. Trade Minister Don Farrell walked away from the bloc's previous offer following rounds of negotiations because it failed to give Australian agricultural products greater market access, which remains the sticking point. Senator Farrell met face-to-face with the EU's trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic for the first time on Wednesday, on the sidelines of an OECD meeting in Paris. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was bipartisan support for free and fair trade. "We will seek a deal that is good enough for Australia," he told reporters on Thursday. "If it benefits us, we'll be in it. If it doesn't, we'll continue to not sign up to something that is not in our national interest." Mr Albanese said Australia's free trade agreement with the UK had led to an increase in meat exports, in addition to wine. "Why is that the case? Because our products are damn fine and they are in demand right around the world," he said. Talks for a deal with the EU began in 2018, and that involves consulting all 27 member states before an agreement can be sealed. There are more than 450 million consumers in Europe. Countries across the world seek to diversity trade in the face of the US president's tariffs, with levies on steel and aluminium since doubling to 50 per cent. Australian products are subject to a 10 per cent baseline tariff. The trade minister said an agreement with the bloc would build resilience in a rapidly changing global environment. "Both Australia and the EU recognise that now is the time to strengthen our economic partnership, and we're working through the remaining issues to try and finalise the deal," he said. Australia stands firm in free trade negotiations with the European Union in the new environment of Donald Trump's tariffs. Trade Minister Don Farrell walked away from the bloc's previous offer following rounds of negotiations because it failed to give Australian agricultural products greater market access, which remains the sticking point. Senator Farrell met face-to-face with the EU's trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic for the first time on Wednesday, on the sidelines of an OECD meeting in Paris. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was bipartisan support for free and fair trade. "We will seek a deal that is good enough for Australia," he told reporters on Thursday. "If it benefits us, we'll be in it. If it doesn't, we'll continue to not sign up to something that is not in our national interest." Mr Albanese said Australia's free trade agreement with the UK had led to an increase in meat exports, in addition to wine. "Why is that the case? Because our products are damn fine and they are in demand right around the world," he said. Talks for a deal with the EU began in 2018, and that involves consulting all 27 member states before an agreement can be sealed. There are more than 450 million consumers in Europe. Countries across the world seek to diversity trade in the face of the US president's tariffs, with levies on steel and aluminium since doubling to 50 per cent. Australian products are subject to a 10 per cent baseline tariff. The trade minister said an agreement with the bloc would build resilience in a rapidly changing global environment. "Both Australia and the EU recognise that now is the time to strengthen our economic partnership, and we're working through the remaining issues to try and finalise the deal," he said. Australia stands firm in free trade negotiations with the European Union in the new environment of Donald Trump's tariffs. Trade Minister Don Farrell walked away from the bloc's previous offer following rounds of negotiations because it failed to give Australian agricultural products greater market access, which remains the sticking point. Senator Farrell met face-to-face with the EU's trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic for the first time on Wednesday, on the sidelines of an OECD meeting in Paris. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was bipartisan support for free and fair trade. "We will seek a deal that is good enough for Australia," he told reporters on Thursday. "If it benefits us, we'll be in it. If it doesn't, we'll continue to not sign up to something that is not in our national interest." Mr Albanese said Australia's free trade agreement with the UK had led to an increase in meat exports, in addition to wine. "Why is that the case? Because our products are damn fine and they are in demand right around the world," he said. Talks for a deal with the EU began in 2018, and that involves consulting all 27 member states before an agreement can be sealed. There are more than 450 million consumers in Europe. Countries across the world seek to diversity trade in the face of the US president's tariffs, with levies on steel and aluminium since doubling to 50 per cent. Australian products are subject to a 10 per cent baseline tariff. The trade minister said an agreement with the bloc would build resilience in a rapidly changing global environment. "Both Australia and the EU recognise that now is the time to strengthen our economic partnership, and we're working through the remaining issues to try and finalise the deal," he said.
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Neil Young invites Trump to one of his shows amid feud
Neil Young has invited Donald Trump to attend one of his concerts after showing his support for Bruce Springsteen amid his feud with the US president. Trump, 78, was left furious after Springsteen hit out at the "corruption" and "incompetence" of the president's administration during a recent concert in Manchester. Trump blasted Springsteen as a "pushy, obnoxious JERK" via his social media platform Truth Social. Young spoke out in support of Springsteen, who insisted he wasn't "scared" of Trump. He penned on his Neil Young Archives site: "Bruce and thousands of musicians think you are ruining America. You worry about that instead of the dyin' kids in Gaza. That's your problem. I am not scared of you. Neither are the rest of us. You shut down FEMA when we needed it most. That's your problem Trump. STOP THINKING ABOUT WHAT ROCKERS ARE SAYING. Think about saving America from the mess you made." In his latest blog entry, Young said: "When I tour the USA this summer, if there is not martial law by then which would make it impossible, let's all come together and stand for American values. "We will not be doing a political show. We will be playing the music we love for all of us to enjoy together. "President Trump, you are invited. Come and hear our music just as you did for decades." Young recently admitted he's worried Trump will stop him entering the US as he's been so critical of the president. Young became a dual Canadian-US citizen in 2020. Neil Young has invited Donald Trump to attend one of his concerts after showing his support for Bruce Springsteen amid his feud with the US president. Trump, 78, was left furious after Springsteen hit out at the "corruption" and "incompetence" of the president's administration during a recent concert in Manchester. Trump blasted Springsteen as a "pushy, obnoxious JERK" via his social media platform Truth Social. Young spoke out in support of Springsteen, who insisted he wasn't "scared" of Trump. He penned on his Neil Young Archives site: "Bruce and thousands of musicians think you are ruining America. You worry about that instead of the dyin' kids in Gaza. That's your problem. I am not scared of you. Neither are the rest of us. You shut down FEMA when we needed it most. That's your problem Trump. STOP THINKING ABOUT WHAT ROCKERS ARE SAYING. Think about saving America from the mess you made." In his latest blog entry, Young said: "When I tour the USA this summer, if there is not martial law by then which would make it impossible, let's all come together and stand for American values. "We will not be doing a political show. We will be playing the music we love for all of us to enjoy together. "President Trump, you are invited. Come and hear our music just as you did for decades." Young recently admitted he's worried Trump will stop him entering the US as he's been so critical of the president. Young became a dual Canadian-US citizen in 2020. Neil Young has invited Donald Trump to attend one of his concerts after showing his support for Bruce Springsteen amid his feud with the US president. Trump, 78, was left furious after Springsteen hit out at the "corruption" and "incompetence" of the president's administration during a recent concert in Manchester. Trump blasted Springsteen as a "pushy, obnoxious JERK" via his social media platform Truth Social. Young spoke out in support of Springsteen, who insisted he wasn't "scared" of Trump. He penned on his Neil Young Archives site: "Bruce and thousands of musicians think you are ruining America. You worry about that instead of the dyin' kids in Gaza. That's your problem. I am not scared of you. Neither are the rest of us. You shut down FEMA when we needed it most. That's your problem Trump. STOP THINKING ABOUT WHAT ROCKERS ARE SAYING. Think about saving America from the mess you made." In his latest blog entry, Young said: "When I tour the USA this summer, if there is not martial law by then which would make it impossible, let's all come together and stand for American values. "We will not be doing a political show. We will be playing the music we love for all of us to enjoy together. "President Trump, you are invited. Come and hear our music just as you did for decades." Young recently admitted he's worried Trump will stop him entering the US as he's been so critical of the president. Young became a dual Canadian-US citizen in 2020. Neil Young has invited Donald Trump to attend one of his concerts after showing his support for Bruce Springsteen amid his feud with the US president. Trump, 78, was left furious after Springsteen hit out at the "corruption" and "incompetence" of the president's administration during a recent concert in Manchester. Trump blasted Springsteen as a "pushy, obnoxious JERK" via his social media platform Truth Social. Young spoke out in support of Springsteen, who insisted he wasn't "scared" of Trump. He penned on his Neil Young Archives site: "Bruce and thousands of musicians think you are ruining America. You worry about that instead of the dyin' kids in Gaza. That's your problem. I am not scared of you. Neither are the rest of us. You shut down FEMA when we needed it most. That's your problem Trump. STOP THINKING ABOUT WHAT ROCKERS ARE SAYING. Think about saving America from the mess you made." In his latest blog entry, Young said: "When I tour the USA this summer, if there is not martial law by then which would make it impossible, let's all come together and stand for American values. "We will not be doing a political show. We will be playing the music we love for all of us to enjoy together. "President Trump, you are invited. Come and hear our music just as you did for decades." Young recently admitted he's worried Trump will stop him entering the US as he's been so critical of the president. Young became a dual Canadian-US citizen in 2020.
